“We didn’t play over the break last year, and I think that affected us,” says Dennis. “This will give us two games out of the break after ten days off. It’ll be a great team-building exercise. Our guys are excited to play a team like UNB.”

This will be the 13th edition of the Pete Kelly Cup, sponsored by Peterbilt Atlantic.

“The Pete Kelly is such a key component of the overall development of our team,” says Varsity Reds head coach Gardiner MacDougall. “We’ve been fortunate enough to have a terrific sponsor, Peterbilt Atlantic, and it allows our team to get back from an extended break and get games in against a good quality opponent.”

MacDougall says the Lions are a program that is making noise in the OUA.

Chris Dennis, a former assistant in the Toronto Maple Leafs system, has rebuilt the Lions. He was named the OUA’s Coach of the Year in 2016.

“You go into the Christmas break and it’s exams and then family are priorities, and so it should be, it’s the Christmas holidays,” says MacDougall. “But then, a switch has to be turned on quick, because we go into our AUS schedule right away. It’s good to get as many of the blemishes out in the exhibition games as you can.”